Many small and medium enterprises of Korea are set to have their products retailed in India.
The Korean Trade Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) and GS Shop have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Network18-promoted home shopping channel HomeShop18 to sell products in the country. Network18 already has a strategic partnership with Korea-based GS Shop for HomeShop18.
Kotra and GS Shop would assist Korean companies planning a foray into the Indian market. These organisations would jointly consider products manufactured by Korean companies and some would be proposed to HomeShop18 to market these in India.
“HomeShop18 has opened up avenues for various small and medium-size Korean companies to promote their brands and products in India, one of the most rapidly growing countries in the world,” said Cho Hwan Ik, president, Kotra.
A tie-up with a home shopping channel would also help foreign companies wanting to enter the retail space in India. At present, the government does not permit foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail. The new agreement would benefit small and medium enterprises in Korea, which can establish their brands in India without actually setting up shop in the country.
Currently, automobile and consumer electronics are two segments where Korean companies have a strong presence in India. The MoU will now open the market in the world’s second-fastest growing economy to a host of other Korean companies.
HomeShop18 would also add to the portfolio on offer in the market here. Sundeep Malhotra, chief executive officer, said, “We look forward to introducing a variety of high quality Korean products in the Indian market through this MoU on our television channel and website, as it will add diversity to the existing pool of products that we offer to our customers.”
Korean imports in India grew 40 per cent in 2009-10. Malhotra added the company saw immense potential in the market for Korean products and expected imports to grow by a similar amount in the coming year. HomeShop18 is the Network18 Group’s online and on-air retail marketing and distribution venture. The company sells 450 established brands to consumers across the country.
